TV shows disappoint

Wednesday

May 15, 2013 at 12:01 AM

Editor: The idea that the American populace is a group of simpletons who would not latch on to good television if it bit them on the nose is the single largest reason for the degradation of the art of television. Time and time again, we see mainstream television coming from NBC, Fox or CBS that simply never challenges the viewer and offers cheap entertainment for a great evening of mind-numbing, lethargic television watching.

Editor: The idea that the American populace is a group of simpletons who would not latch on to good television if it bit them on the nose is the single largest reason for the degradation of the art of television. Time and time again, we see mainstream television coming from NBC, Fox or CBS that simply never challenges the viewer and offers cheap entertainment for a great evening of mind-numbing, lethargic television watching.Even though we have seen "higher-order" networks like AMC, HBO or Showtime lead the way into a new Golden Age of television, mainstream networks have been left behind by having themselves be defined as mainstream. They allow themselves to be put into a corner by trying to appeal to everyone at the same time in order to rake in more ad revenue. By turning each and every show into a rat race for syndication, they have dug their own grave when it comes to actually putting out art, even though it has been proven that challenging TV is both popular and lucrative.This idea of a homogenized, one-size-fits-all approach to television is due to networks trying to keep a certain air of family values about their show. Adults should be able to view nudity, violence and swearing in shows if they want to, especially if drama shows want to be realistic about their subject.But seeing as TV shows do not want to scare Joe Schmoe, they force themselves into producing TV that is not challenging, daring or even realistic. They do this to keep advertisers, but that is a poor excuse given the success of shows like "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" or "Game of Thrones." However, artistic license to accurately show real life does not mean they should turn the show into a dump of nudity and swears. That's just as bad as not showing it at all. An even worse example of this homogenization is the attempts to appeal to the casual viewer. Television networks think that the average viewer is dumber than he actually is, which in turn allows the viewer to actually be dumb. Most people could watch "The Wire" without much trouble at all and still be subjected to the deepest exploration of socio-political themes that has ever been done. However, the Big 3 do not green light shows like "The Wire" because they do not think the everyday man can handle a show like that. They easily could, though, given the opportunity, as evidenced by the success of "Mad Men" and "Breaking Bad."So please, if you care about TV at all, just stop watching NBC, CBS and Fox as a whole. Yes, there are exceptions, most notably "Parks and Recreation" and "Community," but, for the most part, their whole lineup is trash that jumped the shark three seasons ago. Go seek out some TV with substance. I promise that you will never be able to go back once you see the pure gold that is out there.Brandon PaulLexington

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